Cinemas

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the total number of cinemas in operation in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland in each year since 2010.

Edward Vaizey: The total number of cinemas in operation in the four nations in each year since 2010 is shown in the following table1.
	1 The regions are based on ISBN television regions and do not necessarily reflect the geographical region, for example, data for Wales also covers a small area of west England and data for Scotland also covers a small part of England around the Scottish border.
	
		
			 Region 2010 2011 2012 2013 
			 England 544 571 587 577 
			 Wales 72 71 77 74 
			 Scotland 73 74 76 77 
			 Northern Ireland 27 29 29 28 
			 Total 716 745 769 756 
			 Source: Dodona Research, Beacon Dodsworth, Cinema Advertising Association, BFI RSU Analysis

Sovereignty

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the total costs incurred (a) in his Department and (b) in the Government of the creation and production of the booklet, What staying in the United Kingdom means for Scotland.

David Mundell: The total UK Government cost to date of 'What Staying in the United Kingdom Means for Scotland' is £723,501 (plus VAT).
	This works out at the equivalent of 30p per household for the entire process of design, production and delivery. Further detail will be published in the usual fashion in the Cabinet Office transparency returns.
	The Scotland Office incurred no costs in the production or creation of the booklet. Staffing costs were taken from existing Scotland Office budgets.

HM Passport Office

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much overtime has been paid to passport office staff at the Newport Passport Office since 2011.

James Brokenshire: Overtime costs relating to the Newport Passport Office from January 2011 to 2014 amount to £298,965.

Passports

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people applied to the UK embassy in Dublin for British Passports between 2011 and 2014.

James Brokenshire: This information is not held by the Home Office.

Islam: Marriage

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to provide support for and protect the rights of Muslim women in unrecognised marriages in England and Wales.

Simon Hughes: The Government is committed to the protection and promotion of the rights of women, families and children. This includes raising awareness of the legal consequences of 'religious only' marriages and encouraging mosques to register in order to be able to carry out legally recognised marriages in their various facilities.

Prisons: Overcrowding

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what proportion of the prison population were in overcrowded accommodation on 1 April (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012, (e) 2013 and (f) 2014;
	(2)  what proportion of the prison population were sharing cells on 1 April (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012, (e) 2013 and (f) 2014.

Jeremy Wright: We will always have enough prison places for those sent to us by the courts and continue to modernise the prison estate so that it delivers best value for the taxpayer. This Government has a long-term strategy for managing the prison estate which will provide more adult male prison capacity than we inherited from the previous Government.
	Crowding occurs when the number of prisoners in an accommodation unit exceeds the Certified Normal Accommodation in that unit. The average rate of crowding is published annually in the NOMS annual report and accounts.
	Figures for the years 2005-06 to 2013-14 are as follows:
	
		
			  Average rate of crowding 
			 2005-06 24.0 
			 2006-07 24.6 
			 2007-08 25.3 
			 2008-09 24.7 
			 2009-10 24.1 
			 2010-11 23.8 
			 2011-12 24.1 
			 2012-13 23.3 
			 2013-14 22.9 
		
	
	In 2013-14, the average number of prisoners held in crowded conditions decreased to 22.9% of the total population compared to 23.3% in 2012-13. This is the lowest level since 2001-02 and has come down from a high of 25.3% in 2007-08.
	While we collect the total number of prisoners held in crowded conditions we do not centrally record the overall numbers of prisoners who are accommodated in multiple-occupancy cells, be it crowded (eg two prisoners held in a cell designed for one) or not (eg two prisoners held in a cell designed for two). To identify the number of prisoners who shared a cell in each prison in England and Wales in each of the last five years would require manually going through prisoners' individuals records to identify each prisoner’s cell location in each prison in each of the last five years, which could be undertaken only at disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Overcrowding

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were in overcrowded cells on 1 April (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012, (e) 2013 and (f) 2014.

Jeremy Wright: We will always have enough prison places for those sent to us by the courts and continue to modernise the prison estate so that it delivers best value for the taxpayer. This Government has a long-term strategy for managing the prison estate which will provide more adult male prison capacity than we inherited from the previous Government.
	Crowding occurs when the number of prisoners in an accommodation unit exceeds the Certified Normal Accommodation in that unit. The average rate of crowding is published annually in the NOMS annual report and accounts.
	The average number of prisoners in crowded accommodation for the years 2005-06 to 2013-14 is set out in the following table, alongside the average percentage in crowded accommodation in order to provide context.
	
		
			  Average number of prisoners in crowded accommodation Average rate of crowding (%) 
			 2005-06 18,356 24.0 
			 2006-07 19,438 24.6 
			 2007-08 20,377 25.3 
			 2008-09 20,452 24.7 
		
	
	
		
			 2009-10 20,235 24.1 
			 2010-11 20,211 23.8 
			 2011-12 20,907 24.1 
			 2012-13 19,933 23.3 
			 2013-14 19,383 22.9 
		
	
	In 2013-14, the average number of prisoners held in crowded conditions decreased to 22.9% of the total population compared to 23.3% in 2012-13. This is the lowest level since 2001-02 and has come down from a high of 25.3% in 2007-08.

Afghanistan

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to work with his international counterparts on ensuring that the Afghanistan Government continues to maintain security in sparsely populated areas of that country following the withdrawal of international troops.

Mark Francois: The international security assistance force’s (ISAF) combat mission will end this year and the Afghan national security force (ANSF) will assume full responsibility for security across Afghanistan. The UK and our international partners have committed to providing long-term support to the Afghan Government, including continued development of the ANSF, as part of the follow-on resolute support mission. This is subject to the necessary legal permissions being in place before the end of this year. The UK is also contributing an additional £70 million per year until 2017 towards ANSF sustainment.

Armed Forces: Cadets

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had with the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) Association about the funding of school CCFs;
	(2)  what plans he has to change the funding support for Combined Cadet Forces;
	(3)  what plans he has for further funding of Combined Cadet Forces; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: We have set a target of expanding the number of Combined Cadet Forces (CCFs) in state schools.
	We are moving towards a model for all CCFs which will involve schools making a small contribution towards the running costs of their units, irrespective of which sector the school is in. We are working with schools to establish the best way forward and our current plan is that funding changes will happen in a phased manner over a four-year period from September 2015.
	The Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), has not had discussions with the Combined Cadet Force Association (CCFA), although officials are in regular contact. The CCFA is represented on relevant Government cadet committees, and has been briefed on the planned changes.

Army Reserve

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what planning data was used to devise his Department's recruitment target for the Army Reserve as part of its Army 2020 reforms.

Anna Soubry: The term “recruitment target” has been interpreted as the 30,000 trained Army Reservists required under Army 2020.
	During the three-month exercise, the Ministry of Defence examined a range of force structure options which were assessed as being able to deliver the policy demand specified by the new defence planning assumptions laid out in strategic defence and security review 2010. As a result of this, a Senior Military Judgement Panel chaired by the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff and including the Assistant Chiefs of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force concluded that the size of the Regular Army should be 82,500, and the Independent Commission to Review the United Kingdom's Reserve Forces recommended an Army Reserve of 30,000 trained personnel. This was judged to be the optimal size and shape of the Army within available resources.

Army: Length of Service

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 363W, on army: length of service, if he will provide the full calculations used to produce that Answer.

Anna Soubry: The table included in my answer of 16 June 2014 included a column headed ‘Average Strength’. This was incorrectly labelled and should have been headed ‘Underlying Outflow’.
	The tables from my answers of 3 April 2014, Official Report, column 809W, and 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 363W, are reproduced as follows with the correct headings and to provide clarity.
	
		
			  Average Career Length  
			 Regiment/Corps Enlisted under 18 Enlisted 18 or over Underlying Outflow 
			 Household Cavalry & Royal Armoured Corps 11 years, 4 months 9 years, 4 months 1,860 
			 Royal Artillery 13 years, 0 months 9 years, 6 months 2,210 
			 Royal Engineers 12 years, 11 months 8 years, 6 months 2,830 
			 Royal Signals 14 years, 5 months 10 years, 1 months 1,830 
			 Infantry 11 years, 0 months 7 years, 9 months 8,700 
			 Army Air Corps 14 years, 1 months 11 years, 3 months 370 
		
	
	
		
			 Royal Logistic Corps 13 years, 5 months 10 years, 2 months 4,560 
			 Royal Army Medical Corps 12 years, 1 months 9 years, 10 months 560 
			 Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 14 years, 4 months 13 years, 3 months 2,670 
			 Adjutant General’s Corps (Provost) 19 years, 7 months 13 years, 6 months 400 
			 Adjutant General’s Corps (Staff and Personnel Support) 18 years, 10 months 14 years, 4 months 870 
			 Royal Army Veterinary Corps 12 years, 10 months 9 years, 6 months 80 
			 Small Arms School Corps 23 years, 0 months 21 years, 5 months 20 
			 Royal Army Dental Corps 13 years, 7 months 11 years, 10 months 60 
			 Intelligence Corps 22 years, 10 months 14 years, 4 months 240 
			 Royal Army Physical Training Corps 22 years, 0 months 19 years, 11 months 110 
			 Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps 14 years, 5 months 11 years, 4 months 140 
			 Corps of Army Music 22 years, 2 months 13 years, 3 months 180 
			 Senior Soldier Continuity Posts (Long Service) 34 years, 11 months 30 years, 4 months 140 
			 Notes/Caveats: Underlying outflow figures have been rounded to 10; numbers ending in “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. Source: Defence Statistics (Army) 
		
	
	An individual's Length of Service and enlistment age have been calculated using the current entry date recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration system. There can be small anomalies in the data where personnel have transferred to the Army from another service, served under an alternative assignment type (eg reserve forces), are re-entrants or have transferred from officers to other ranks.
	The average career length is a simple calculation based on dividing the total length of service of all those personnel who have left the Army by Corps between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2013 by the total number of personnel leaving each Corps during the same period.

Teachers: Veterans

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the success of his troops to teachers initiative.

David Laws: The Troops to Teachers undergraduate programme is a new programme, which started in January 2014. Trainees in the first cohort are in their second term of school-based training so whilst feedback from host schools is positive, it is too soon to fully evaluate the success of the programme.

Government Procurement: SMEs

William Bain: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent steps he has taken to address barriers to small and medium-sized enterprises participating in Government procurement.

Nick Hurd: This Government has transformed central Government procurement to make it more accessible to small and medium-sized businesses. We are in the process of implementing Lord Young’s recommendations to create an SME-friendly ‘single market’ in wider public procurement, and we will go even further through reforms in the forthcoming Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill.

Social Enterprises

Peter Aldous: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress his Department has made on supporting social enterprises.

Nick Hurd: This Government is doing a great deal to support the growth of social enterprises. We are improving their access to finance through social investment. We are making it easier for them to deliver public services through the Social Value Act and a wide range of capacity building support.

Minimum Wage

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many complaints about payment of the National Minimum Wage (a) were made, (b) were resolved within the required departmental timescales and (c) were not resolved within the required departmental timescales in 2013-14;
	(2)  what the target timescale is for resolving complaints regarding non-payment of the National Minimum Wage.

Jennifer Willott: The Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) enforces the national minimum wage (NMW) on behalf of BIS.
	HMRC investigates every complaint made to the Pay and Work Rights helpline and deals with each NMW complaint on a case-by-case basis. The timescale for each case is dependent on a number of factors:
	the complexity of the issues;
	the size of employer;
	the co-operation of the employer; and
	the enforcement route required.
	In 2013/14, HMRC investigated 1,631 cases. Of these, 1,084 cases were closed; 565 cases were closed within 120 days; 519 cases were closed outside of 120 days; and 547 cases are still open and yet to be concluded.
	Please note that investigations may not commence and be completed in the same financial year.

Housing: Insulation

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households with a below-average income have received support for comprehensive insulation of their homes in the last year.

Gregory Barker: The coalition Government is committed to fighting fuel poverty through the installation of robust energy efficiency measures.
	Statistics published this morning show that from the start of 2013 to the end of April 2014, 394,000 low-income and vulnerable consumers, or households in specified areas of low income, had benefited from energy efficiency measures being installed under the new energy company obligation.

Burma

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make an assessment of the accuracy of the report of 9 May 2014 by the James Martin Center for Non-proliferation Studies that a military factory in Pauk Township of the central Magwe Division, Burma, has some features that are consistent with a chemical plant.

Hugo Swire: The James Martin Centre report states that it is not possible to determine the nature of the facility in question. We are unable to make any further assessments at this stage.
	We have made a concerted effort to encourage Burma to ratify their Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). I raised this most recently with Deputy Foreign Minister U That Kyaw on 12 June. We are working with the OPCW to offer practical support, and the UK National Authority to the CWC has offered to host a Burmese delegation later this year.

Kashmir

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the situation in Kashmir; and what recent discussions he has had with his (a) Indian, (b) Pakistani and (c) US counterparts on this matter.

Hugo Swire: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), has spoken to each of his Indian, Pakistani and US counterparts in recent months about South Asia regional issues and relations between India and Pakistan. We recognise the importance of finding a lasting solution to the situation in Kashmir, but remain of the view it is not for third parties to prescribe one. We continue to follow developments in the region closely, and officials from our high commissions in both New Delhi and Islamabad regularly discuss the situation in Kashmir with both governments and travel to the region, security situation permitting.

Palestinians

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on the recent destruction of fruit trees at the Tent of Nations farm on the West Bank.

Hugh Robertson: We have not raised this specific issue with the Israeli authorities. However, we repeatedly make clear to the Israeli authorities our serious concerns about continued demolitions of Palestinian property and the need to abide by their other obligations under international law. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised the issue of demolitions in general on 28 May with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office.

Sudan

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the government of Sudan about the imprisonment of Meriam Ibrahim.

Mark Simmonds: I am appalled at the death sentence given to Meriam Ibrahim, and her continued imprisonment. Immediately following her trial, I issued a statement describing her conviction as barbaric and calling upon the Government of Sudan to respect the right to freedom of religion and international human rights laws as enshrined in its own constitution. The chargé d’affaires of the Sudanese embassy in London was summoned to the Foreign Office on 19 May at the request of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague). The Under-Secretary of State for International Development, the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone), reiterated our demand with the Sudanese Foreign Minister when she met him on 20 May. Our embassy in Khartoum, that attended her trial, continues to press the Sudanese authorities for Meriam Ibrahim’s release, and is in close contact with the defence team.

Sudan

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent steps he has taken to call for the release of Mariam Ibrahim and her son from prison in Sudan and for her death sentence to be revoked.

Mark Simmonds: We have repeatedly raised our concerns about this appalling case with the Government of Sudan. The Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for International Development, and I all issued statements calling for Meriam Ibrahim to be released immediately. We also raised our concerns directly with the Government of Sudan: I highlighted this case in a letter to Presidential Assistant Professor Ghandour; the Under-Secretary of State for International Development, the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone), raised it with the Sudanese Foreign Minister; and our ambassador in Khartoum has raised it on multiple occasions with other Ministers and senior officials.

Syria

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what evidence his Department holds on whether the Syrian Government was responsible for the chemical weapons attack in Kafr Zita.

Hugh Robertson: The UK was among the first to express concern at allegations that chemical weapons had again been used in Syria, and called for them to be investigated.
	On 29 April the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Director General announced he was establishing a Fact Finding Mission to determine the truth behind recent allegations of chemical weapon use in Syria. The UK has continued to stress the importance of this mission determining the full facts.
	We are aware of at least 9 attacks in April in which the use of chemical weapons has been alleged. We consider it likely that chemical weapons have been used on at least some of these occasions. There are a number of pieces of information that suggest that only regime could have been responsible for these attacks, including the use of helicopters to deliver bombs to their targets and the fact that the attacks took place in opposition controlled areas. We have shared the information we hold with the OPCW.
	We condemn the attack on the convoy carrying inspectors to Kafr Zita and urge all parties to the conflict to ensure that inspectors are given secure and unrestricted access to all relevant sites to enable the full facts to be established.

Drugs: Misuse

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of take-home naloxone in reducing the number of opiate-related deaths across the UK in conjunction with the training and educational programmes within the prison services.

Jane Ellison: From July 2009 to February 2010, the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (now part of Public Health England (PHE)) ran a trial at 16 pilot sites around England in which carers and relations of opiate misusers were trained to respond to overdoses and use the antidote naloxone and basic life support techniques.
	A report1 on the trial was published in 2011, and it was clear that naloxone appeared to help save lives. The report said that there were 18 overdoses where carers used naloxone and two where they applied basic life support. All the drug users survived the overdose. The trial included people who were about to leave prisons, and the report covers some of the issues around this.
	There is currently a trial running on the effectiveness of giving prisoners naloxone when they leave prison, which has yet to report.
	Some prisons currently supply prisons with take-home naloxone as part of their post-release support. PHE does not hold the data centrally.
	The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has recommended that naloxone be made more widely available, and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has undertaken a consultation with the field on implementing this recommendation. There will be no further policy announcements on naloxone until the report on this consultation is published.
	1 Full report available at:
	http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads.naloxonereport2011.pdf

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of patients waiting more than six weeks for diagnostic tests through NHS England; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The Government has invested more than £750 million over four years to support early diagnosis in cancer and improve access to key diagnostics to make sure that everyone has access to the best possible treatment. Awareness raising campaigns such as Be Clear on Cancer are encouraging more people to come forward with their symptoms.
	Patients should receive timely care, and NHS England, the NHS Trust Development Authority and Monitor are working with providers and commissioners to ensure patients get access to tests and treatment as quickly as possible.

In Vitro Fertilisation: Trafford

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that Trafford Commissioning Group provides the full treatment for IVF as recommended by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in 2004.

Jane Ellison: The level of provision of infertility treatment, as for all health services they commission, is decided by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and will take into account the needs of the population overall. The CCG’s decisions are underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local health care needs. As such, provision of services will be tailored to local requirements.
	NHS England expects all those involved in commissioning infertility treatment services to be fully aware of the importance of having regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence fertility guidelines. In February 2013, NHS England issued a factsheet to support CCGs in taking on those responsibilities.

Medicine: Research

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if the Health and Safety Executive will create a register of qualified professionals to ensure that clinical research is carried out safely;
	(2)  if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that clinical research is carried out by suitably qualified professionals.

Norman Lamb: The Health and Safety Executive is responsible for the enforcement of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and ensuring that
	“risks to people’s health and safety from work activities are properly controlled”.
	The Health Research Authority (HRA) ensures that ethically-approved clinical research is carried out by suitably qualified professionals through its arrangements for research ethics committee review. Research ethics committee review includes scrutiny of researchers’ suitability to conduct the research they are proposing. This review is required by departmental guidance, which applies to all health and adult social care research, and by legislation, for instance, in the case of clinical trials, by schedule 1 part 2(2) of the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/1031).
	The HRA publishes a register of research summaries, including a contact name (usually that of the chief investigator) and the research ethics committee’s opinion. The register is publicly available online at:
	www.nres.nhs.uk/researchsummaries
	From September 2013, registration of clinical trials in a publicly accessible database is a condition of the favourable ethical opinion given by a research ethics committee.

Organs: Donors

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to work with international counterparts to ensure the sharing of best practice to increase organ donation.

Jane Ellison: NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT)-the United Kingdom organ donation organisation responsible for matching and allocating donated organs-actively participates and is involved in European Union initiatives to increase organ donation. This includes two current major European organ donation projects: the ACCORD (Achieving Comprehensive Coordination in Organ Donation) and FOEDUS (Facilitating the Exchange of Organs Donated in EU Member States) projects. NHSBT was also a collaborating partner for the completed ODEQUS (European Organ Donation Quality System) project.
	The UK drew heavily on evidence of world-wide success, such as Spain, for the development and implementation of the Organ Donation Taskforce recommendations published in 2008, which saw donor rates rise by 50% in five years. A number of international experts from the Unites States of America, Germany and The Netherlands also contributed to the development of the UK’s new strategy published in 2013 “Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020”. A number of measures will be used to track improvements in performance in organ donation and transplantation to compare with international benchmarks, in order to try and match the best performing programmes in the world.

Building Societies

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to publish the results of the consultations on bail-in order for building societies; and if he will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is currently analysing the responses to the consultation on bail-in secondary legislation. Once this review is completed, the Government will publish a summary of the responses and indicate how it plans to proceed.

Children: Day Care

Ian Austin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance his Department issues to employers on helping employees with the cost of childcare.

Nicky Morgan: HM Revenue and Customs has published extensive guidance to help employers run successful child care schemes, including the Employer Helpbook E18 'How you can help your employees with childcare'.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many applications for the Help to Buy scheme have been for (a) shared equity, (b) shared ownership, (c) mutual housing and (d) self-build properties since the scheme was launched.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government does not collect data on the number of applications made under the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme.
	The Government publishes quarterly official statistics relating to the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme. The first of these were published on 29 May 2014.
	This report, along with accompanying tables, can be found at:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/help-to-buy-mortgage-guarantee-scheme-quarterly-statistics-october-2013-to-march-2014
	The Help to Buy: equity loan scheme is a shared equity scheme. At Budget 2014, the Government announced that it will seek to explore how it can make the Help to Buy: equity loan scheme available for custom build.
	Statistics on the legal completions supported by the equity loan scheme are published monthly at:
	www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-monthly-statistics

Venture Capital

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 11 June 2014, Official Report, column 160W, on venture capital, what steps he has taken to support crowdfunding and peer-to-peer (a) lending to and (b) investment in small businesses; and if he will assess the value of such forms of finance to the small and medium-size sector.

Andrea Leadsom: Crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending are innovative new forms of finance that support competition in the business lending sector.
	The Government has taken a number of steps to support their growth, including bringing peer-to-peer lending within the scope of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and announcing that the range of products that can be held in stocks and shares ISAs will be expanded to include loans made through peer-to-peer platforms.
	The Government also operates two tax-advantaged venture capital schemes which are used by equity crowdfunding investors: the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS).
	The Government has not made any assessment of the value of investment in small and medium-sized businesses from peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding platforms.

Disadvantaged: EU Grants and Loans

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how much of the EU's Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived he has allocated to public bodies and non-governmental organisations in 2014;
	(2)  how much of the EU's Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived he intends to allocated to public bodies and non-governmental organisations in each year between 2014 and 2020.

Esther McVey: No allocations have yet been made.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the additional annual cost of introducing a taper on (a) an occupational pension and (b) other unearned income into universal credit set at 95 per cent.

Esther McVey: When universal credit is fully rolled out, a 95% taper on occupational pension is estimated to cost an additional £50 million per annum. A 95% taper on all other unearned income (excluding occupational pension) is estimated to cost an additional £300 million per annum. These estimates are in 2014-15 prices.
	The general principle in universal credit is that income other than earnings which is provided to meet everyday living costs is taken fully into account in the calculation of the award of benefit. universal credit is designed to be responsive to the actual amount of income a claimant receives each month, to ensure people get help when they need it and can budget effectively. This approach also keeps administrative costs down and provides simpler rules for treatment of unearned income.